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DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED IN THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 



IN NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



ON THE 26th OF JULY, 1868. 



THE SABBATH IMMEDIATELY SUCCEEDING THE FUNERAL OF THE 



REV. WILLIAM ALLEN, D. D 



— 



BtfSPIU 



BY WILLIAM BtfSPKAGUE, D. D. 
it 

MINISTER OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION, ALBANY. 



t 

WITH AN APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING NOTICES OF THE FUNERAL SERVICES, &C. 

Published by request of the bereaved family. 



ALBANY : 

PRINTING HOUSE OF CHAS. VAN BENTHUYSEN & SONS. 

1868. 



p "it* 

£>1 



J 



In •xcttaisgo 



MAY 2 4 <•* 



(Eommcmorcitiue Discourse, 



PSALM XCI, 16. 

WTTII LONG LIFE WILL I SATISFY HIM AND SHOAV HIM MY SALVATION. 

It is commonly supposed that David was 
the author of this Psalm, though it contains 
nothing to warrant even a conjecture in 
respect to the occasion on which it was writ- 
ten. Its design, however, ,-igi.^o.. patent that 
no reflecting reader can mistake it — it is 
nothing less than to asflWl -those who dwell 
in the secret place of the Most High, those 
who are the regenerate and adopted children 
of God, that full provision is made for their 
safety and happiness, even in the present 
life ; that they have a right to expect special 
interpositions of Divine Providence in their 
behalf; and that even when life's woes seem 
to be gathering upon them, there is still a 
neutralizing, transforming element at work 
under the Divine direction, that will render 
the darkest scene a ministration of positive 



blessing. The Psalm before us meets the 
Christian at every point of difficulty or danger 
in the course of his pilgrimage. It contains 
promises of the Divine favour, fitted at once 
to make him earnest in duty, fearless in peril, 
and not only patient, but joyful in tribulation. 

Our text is the crowning part of this treas- 
ure of grace* and comfort — "With long life 
will I satisfy him and show him my salva- 
tion." Let us meditate upon it a few moments, 
and, if I mistake not, we shall find it not 
only in harmony with the sacred and tender 
associations of the hour, but fruitful in con- 
solation to all who can appropriate the 
gracious assurance. 

Let it be remembered that this is not the 
utterance of a mere mortal, or of any finite 
being, but of the Infinite God Himself. It is 
the God of Providence, who sustains the vital 
principle within us by a mysterious agency, 
and orders the minutest circumstances of our 
condition, — who hath said, " With long life 
will I satisfy him." It is the God of Grace, 
with whom the work of redemption had its 
origin, and by whom it is in the process of 
being carried forward to its full accomplish- 



rnetit, — who hath said, " I will show him my 
salvation." The declaration then, wonder- 
fully consolatory as it is, may be received 
without the shadow of distrust ; for almighty 
power, all-sufficient grace, eternal truth, 
underlie and sustain it. 

Here are two distinct blessings promised 
to the man who puts his trust in God. 

I. The first is long life. "With long life 
will I satisfy him." 

Length of life is to be estimated not 
merely by years, but by acquisitions and 
acts — by attainments in personal holiness and 
the amount of good accomplished for others. 
In this view it is quite possible that one may 
die young, and yet may have lived long; for 
he may have crowded into a brief period a 
measure of Christian activity and usefulness, 
that would shame the ordinary religious char- 
acter that had been the growth of four-score 
years. As the most impressive illustration 
of all, I may appeal to the ministry of our 
Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who, in the brief 
period of three years, accomplished the work 
not only of the world's Reformer, but of the 
world's Redeemer. Or, if you would have an 



example that is purely earthly, you need not 
go beyond the record you will find on the 
tomb-stone of David Brainerd, in your own 
venerable burying place- — though death over- 
took him at the early age of twenty-nine, he 
had acquired a character and performed a 
work that will render his memory fragrant 
with all coming generations, and that, as you 
are yourselves witnesses, bring hither the 
great and good of other lands, to utter grate- 
ful and reverent words beside his grave. 
And thus it has been, in a greater or less 
degree, with multitudes- — though their sojourn 
upon earth has been brief, very brief, it has 
been long enough for them to gather many 
souls, through the power of the Gospel, into 
the fold of Christ; to originate and mature 
plans of usefulness that have scarcely begun 
to be developed when they are called away ; 
to sow seeds of truth and righteousness that 
shall yield fruit, even in distant ages, for the 
healing of the nations. 

But the expression, "long life," may be 
taken in its more literal import, for a period 
considerably protracted beyond the ordinary 
limit of our earthly existence. About thirty 



years are generally reckoned to a generation — 
all beyond is an excess of the average ot 
human life — but there are instances in which 
this period is not only doubled, but more than 
tripled — even this is, indeed, but a brief hour 
compared with eternity, though it is long in 
comparison with the lives of the multitude. 
Old age is proverbially a season of infirmity, 
and sometimes of accumulated maladies, that 
render it a scene of bitter suffering. Even 
where the worst is realized, there is the 
opportunity not only of getting good but of 
doing good ; not only of maturing the passive 
graces under the culture of God's Providence 
and Spirit, and thus becoming fitted for a 
more exalted place in* Heaven, but, by utter- 
ing words of truth and love in connection 
with the breathings of faith and humility 
and devotion, to bring at least a limited cir- 
cle more within the influence of the powers 
of the world to come. But there are cases, 
not a few, in which the Christian brings into 
the vale of age much of the energy of purpose 
and of action that has characterized his 
earlier years; and superadded to this are the 
greater maturity of judgment, and the higher 



8 

attainments in piety, incident to a prolonged 
experience ; all which invests his character 
with fresh attraction, and greatly increases 
his moral power. Such a man moves about 
only to scatter blessings. He may be occu- 
pied in one way or another; but you may be 
sure he will be all the time acting as a minis- 
ter of mercy, and brightening his own record, 
both on earth and in Heaven. 

Now, whether we consider long life in the 
former or the latter sense, — whether as a 
very brief period, crowded with monuments 
of ever growing spirituality and efficient 
Christian action, or whether as a more length- 
ened period, abounding to the last in devout 
exercises and good works, — in either case the 
individual concerned may well afford to be 
satisfied. He who is cut off in the early days 
of his usefulness, may be satisfied that he has 
lived as long as infinite wisdom saw best, and 
has done the work which infinite wisdom 
ordained, and is now, at the very fittest 
moment, transferred to a higher sphere both 
of activity and of enjoyment. He who is 
spared to have his locks whitened or his face 
furrowed by old age, and has kept on labour- 



9 

ing for Christ and his cause, up to the full 
measure of his ability, to the last, may also 
be satisfied — satisfied that, though he has 
been detained here at the expense of being 
kept out of Heaven, he has, all the time been 
growing in preparation for Heaven, and rear- 
ing fresh monuments of his fidelity, which 
shall be so many witnesses for him at the 
judgment. 

II. But our text opens to us another 
field of thought still more glorious — not only 
is the good man promised, the blessing of 
long life, but the still greater blessing of 
seeing the salvation of God — " And show him 
my salvation." 

You remember that? when the devout Sim- 
eon took up in his arms the infant Saviour, 
part of his joyous exclamation was, — " Mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation." No doubt 
there was a depth of meaning in this utterance 
which the good man himself but very imper- 
fectly fathomed ; but it clearly conveyed the 
idea that in the Lord Jesus Christ, then an 
infant of days, God had bound up the salva- 
tion of his people. Simeon, in looking upon 
the new-born Saviour, beheld the embryo 



10 

of the Mediatorial Kingdom, the Divinely 
appointed provision for gathering a great 
multitude out of every nation and kindred 
and tongue and people, who are hereafter to 
appear as the ransomed of the Lord. In like 
manner, as we contemplate this Saviour in 
the greatness of his condescension and his 
ability to save, and grasp by faith his gracious 
promises, we may be said to see his salvation, 
and thus to witness to the truth of the decla- 
ration in our text. 

But let us consider the import of this 
expression a little more in detail. How is it 
that God shows his salvation to those whom 
He will finally acknowledge as his people ? 

He does this, in the first place, by bringing 
the great truths in which their salvation is 
embodied vividly to their understanding, as 
matter of earnest contemplation. The epi- 
tome of these truths you have in that 
memorable declaration of the Saviour Him- 
self, — " For God so loved the world that He 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life " — and again in that triumph- 
ant deliverance of the Apostle, — " God forbid 



11 

that I should glory, save in the Cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is 
crucified unto me and I unto the world." 
" Jesus Christ and Him crucified," then, is the 
very life and substance of the Gospel ; and 
the great doctrines here represented must 
become the subject, not only of close and 
diligent thought, but of intelligent conviction. 
This, indeed, is but a single step towards 
having God's salvation shown unto us, in the 
sense which the text contemplates ; but it is 
a step that cannot be dispensed with — because 
knowledge goes before love — the intellectual, 
in the order of nature, precedes the moral. 

Then the next and most decisive stage in 
the process is the impressing of these truths 
upon the heart, as the preparation for forgive- 
ness and the means of sanctification. This, 
of course, involves repentance and faith, 
which are not only essential exercises of a 
renovated nature, but which bring pardon and 
peace and holiness in their train. Now the 
mystery of redemption, the glory of the new 
and spiritual life, is fairly revealed to the 
soul. Old things have passed away, and all 
things have become new. There is, indeed, 



12 

to be a progressive future ; but it will only 
be the development of the present, the illimi- 
table expansion of a principle the introduction 
of which into the soul was the pledge of its 
eternal salvation. 

This salvation, as it is progressive in respect 
to the individual, brings with it large meas- 
ures of light and comfort and blessing in 
the course of life's journey. There is the joy 
of a pacified conscience, that trembles not at 
the thought of God's justice and shrinks not 
from exploring the future. There is the joy 
of the renovated spirit; of those silent 
upward workings that indicate its heavenly 
birth and presage its heavenly destination. 
There is the joy of Christian fellowship; of 
being* united with the followers of Jesus in 
bonds of fraternal good-will, and being sharers 
with them of the same precious hopes, and 
travellers with them on the same upward 
journey. There is the joy of a most intimate 
union with Christ ; of discovering the glory of 
his character and the perfection of his work, 
and appropriating the provisions of his grace. 
And, finally, there is the joy of recognizing 
God as a covenant God and Father; of living 



13 

in the light of his countenance ; of coming to 
him in the hour of sorrow and need, and find- 
ing him ever ready to help; and, finally, of 
being led by Him through the dark valley to 
the borders of the better land. All this is 
God's salvation as shown to us amidst the 
sins and sorrows of this mortal life ; but 
surely this is enough to make us wish for an 
angel's tongue to magnify his boundless grace. 
And yet this is only the beginning of the 
promised salvation — its full glory will not be 
revealed to us, until this mortal shall have 
given place to immortality, and earth be 
exchanged for Heaven. To that blessed world, 
the final gathering place of all the righteous, 
each sanctified spirit is borne as it comes out 
of the conflict with death ; and there is every 
thing beautiful and lovely and glorious ; 
every thing that can attract and exalt and 
ennoble. True, it is the spirit only that is 
thus perfected and glorified — the body is pass- 
ing its dreary night of insensibility and 
corruption in the grave — but the day of its 
redemption will come ere long, and the two 
component parts of our humanity will be 
united in perfect symmetry and beauty. And 



14 

this marks yet another stage in the career of 
glory — henceforward, through eternal ages, 
progress, progress, will be visibly inscribed on 
every thing. But all the joy that will be felt, 
and all the praise that will be rendered, and 
all the attainments in knowledge and purity 
that will be made, will form constituent parts 
of that salvation, in its more advanced stage, 
that God has promised to show to his people. 
Surely, then, he w^ho dwelleth in the secret 
place of the Most High is a privileged charac- 
ter— privileged in this world, — infinitely 
more in the next. For not only has God 
given him the assurance that He will, in some 
sense, satisfy him with long life, but what is 
infinitely more, — that He will show him his 
salvation — partly here, but fully hereafter. 
Why then should we mourn for the pious 
dead, even for our own cherished friends, 
who have finished their course well and have 
passed on to their reward ? We will grate- 
fully cherish their memories, but we will not 
shed bitter tears for their departure. Let 
them shine in their heavenly robes; let them 
walk in the light of the Lamb, and study the 
mysteries of redemption, and mingle freely 



15 

with the angelic hosts; and meanwhile let us 
be ready, when the word shall come, to ascend 
in their upward track, and join the ransomed 
multitude. 

I am willing to hope that the preceding 
train of thought may prove a fitting intro- 
duction to some commemorative notices of a 
venerable man and minister of the Gospel, 
who has lately exchanged his home in the 
midst of you for a residence in the better 
country. It is due to his memory that I 
should furnish an outline of his eminently 
useful life ; though I confess to some embar- 
rassment in doing it, from the fact that the 
leading events of his history must have already 
come to you through of her channels. I doubt 
not, however, that on such a theme, you will be 
more than willing to accompany me over 
ground that is quite familiar to you. 

Dr. Allen was born in Pittsfield on the 2d 
of January, 1784, being a son of the Rev. 
Thomas Allen, the first minister of that town, 
but a native of this, as were all his ancestors 
from its early settlement. His father was 
distinguished for fine intellectual and Chris- 
tian qualities, and especially for a judicious 



16 

and careful training of his children; and 
there are letters of his still in existence, 
addressed to this son while he was a member 
of college, so full of wise and affectionate 
counsels, as to be justly recognized as one of 
the sources of the eminence to which the son 
afterwards attained. He (the son), after 
spending his early years in his native place, 
entered Harvard College at the age of fourteen, 
and graduated in 1802, in a class which has 
been largely and honourably represented in the 
different professions. For a year after his 
graduation he taught a school in Brookline, 
pursuing his theological studies under the 
direction of the Rev. (afterwards Dr.) John 
Pierce ; and in 1804 he was licensed to preach 
by the Berkshire Association, of which his 
father was a member. From 1805 to 1810 he 
had his residence at Cambridge, during which 
time he was connected with Harvard College 
as Assistant Librarian and as Regent, — hold- 
ing the latter office as successor of William 
Ellery Channing, afterwards the Rev. Dr. 
Channing, of world wide celebrity. During 
this period he prepared and published his well 
known Biographical Dictionary, which has 



17 

passed through several editions, and was and 
is justly regarded, on both sides of the Atlan- 
tic, as an invaluable contribution to our 
American literature. 

In October, 1810, he was ordained, and 
installed Pastor of the First Congregational 
Church in his native town, as successor of his 
father, who had died in the early part of the 
same year. When Dartmouth College was 
changed, in 1816, by the Legislature of New 
Hampshire, from a College into a University, 
Dr. Allen was appointed, as successor of his 
father-in-law, Dr. Wheelock, to the Presi- 
dency. This office he continued to hold till 
1819, when the legislation by which the 
University was created, was annulled, and the 
University itself of course annihilated, by a 
decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
States. In May, 1820, he became President 
of Bowdoin College, as successor of the great 
and good Dr. Appleton. In 1831 he was sub- 
jected to no small embarrassment in his official 
relations, in consequence of certain Acts of 
the Maine Legislature, touching colleges, 
which virtually took from him the office of 
President for about two years; but the subse- 
3 



18 

quent action of the Supreme Court restored 
him to his place, and he kept on, discharging 
its duties with all fidelity, until 1839, when 
he resigned the Presidential chair. He then 
came to take up his residence in this fine old 
town, endeared to him by so many hallowed 
associations. His presence here, I am sure, 
has been an element of light and peace and 
blessing. I wonder not that it should bring 
sadness to your hearts to reflect that you shall 
see his face no more. 

Dr. Allen's character, I may say with con- 
fidence, was eminently symmetrical and 
attractive. Without attempting to define the 
exact province either of nature or of grace 
in the forming and the training of its various 
qualities, I am happy to say that it does not 
present a single point to embarrass me in the 
attempt to pay a just tribute to his memory. I 
am not aware that he ever held an office or sus- 
tained a relation, which did not reflect, in some 
way, the calmness, the delicacy, the integrity, 
the generosity, the nobility of his spirit. 

Dr. Allen's mind was reflective and well 
balanced, without the slightest proclivity to 
any thing eccentric, or, in modern phrase, 



19 

sensational. If its operations were not unusu- 
ally rapid, they were eminently safe; and 
the conclusions which he reached on any 
subject were the result of such mature and 
well digested thought that they rarely had to 
be reversed. He had a naturally intense thirst 
for knowledge ; and this kept his mind always 
active in the pursuit of it ; the result of 
which was that he was more or less conversant 
with most of the departments of learning, 
and in many of them was quite at home. 
Not only was he thoroughly versed in the 
classics, and familiar with several modern 
languages, and an adept in history and general 
literature, but he had, and retained to the 
list, a deep interest in the arts and sciences, 
particularly the natural sciences of Miner- 
ology and Botany. He was a most diligent 
observer of whatever came within his range; 
the evidence of which he has left not only in 
many curious collections, carefully arranged 
in his study, but in large quantities of brief 
notes pertaining to a much greater variety of 
subjects than a single mind could be expected 
to grasp. Perhaps no subject occupied him 
more intensely than the history of New Eng- 



20 

land, especially the history of theological 
opinion in New England ; and it were greatly 
to be desired that the results of these inqui- 
ries should have taken such a form that they 
may hereafter be given to the world. 

As an Author, Dr. Allen's greatest and 
best known work is the Biographical Diction- 
ary already referred to; but many other 
highly creditable productions of his pen have 
appeared in print, scattered over nearly the 
whole of his public life. Some of the earliest 
of these were contributions to several of the 
first volumes of the Panoplist, written while 
he was a resident at Cambridge ; and they do 
honour alike to his head and his heart. In 1807, 
by request of his friend, the Rev. John Codman, 
he wrote " Historical and Biogrophical Sketch- 
es, or an Account of Religion in America/' 
making a hundred and eighty manuscript 
pages, to assist the Rev. Drs. Bogue and Ben- 
nett, of England, in their History of the 
Dissenters — a service which they gratefully 
acknowledged in the fourth volume of their 
work. The subjects on which he has written 
for the press are various, and sometimes con- 
troversial; but I believe they are always 



21 

treated with marked candour and ability. One 
of the last, I think the very last, of his publica- 
tions was a small volume of devotional poems, 
written amidst great bodily infirmity, but 
breathing a spirit that seemed ripe for Heaven. 
Perhaps there was no single quality more 
prominent in Dr, Allen's character than his 
strict regard to right, his scrupulous adher- 
ence to his own honest convictions. Though 
not unduly tenacious in smaller matters, yet, 
where principle was involved, no proffered ad- 
vantage, no threatened infliction of evil, could 
make him even doubtful in respect to the course 
he should pursue. Like the great Apostle, when 
he had taken counsel of his Lord as to what 
He would have him to do, nothing remained 
but to carry out his Lord's will, no matter what 
might be the opposing influences. But with 
this incorruptible integrity he united a kind- 
liness of spirit, that rendered him at once 
genial and gentle, though dignified, in all his 
intercourse, and watchful for opportunities of 
communicating good to those around him. He 
had naturally strong feelings, but they were 
under such admirable control that his utteran- 
ces were always marked by the utmost calm- 



22 

ness and consideration. In all his statements 
he was scrupulously exact, and in every thing 
pertaining to his social relations he was a 
model of propriety and dignity. In his own 
family his will was identical with the law of 
kindness. His children have embalmed his 
memory in their inmost hearts, and will not 
forget to teach their children to call him blessed. 
His Christian character, as might be ex- 
pected, was marked by great consistency, and 
free from even the semblance of ostentation. 
Though all the various graces seemed beauti- 
fully and richly blended, the operation of 
some of them, was well nigh obscured by 
his humility. Though he took little interest 
in the metaphysics of Theology, and was not 
disposed to go beyond the simple biblical 
statements of Christian doctrine, his views 
are believed to have been in substantial har- 
mony with the accredited orthodox standards 
of New England. As a Preacher, he always 
held much more than a respectable rank — his 
sermons were full of sound and practical 
thought, and were delivered with simplicity 
and solemnity, though his manner was far 
from being impassioned or demonstrative. 



23 

He was distinguished for his public spirit, his 
interest in all the great movements of the 
day having a bearing upon the purification 
and general improvement of society, or the 
ultimate regeneration of the world. He was 
for many years a deeply interested member 
of the American Board of Foreign Missions, 
and was its senior member at the time of his 
death. He was much devoted to the cause of 
Peace, and in August, 1849, attended the 
Peace Congress in Paris, as one of several 
delegates from Massachusetts. So, also, he 
was zealous in the cause of Temperance, of 
the observance of the Sabbath, and indeed. of 
every good cause that came within the range 
of his influence. Thfough, for many years 
previous to his death, he had withdrawn, in 
a great measure, from the regular routine of 
ministerial duty, he never forgot that he was 
an ambassador for Christ, and was always 
ready to lend a helping hand, as he found 
occasion or opportunity, for the promotion of 
any of the great interests of his kingdom. 

I cannot forbear to say that the estimate I 
have now given of the character of our 
lamented friend, while I believe it is fully 



21 

sustained by the concurrent testimony of the 
several communities in which he has lived, is 
also in perfect harmony with my own grateful 
recollections. I think I had had several cas- 
ual meetings with Dr. Allen in the very 
early part of my ministry ; but my acquaint- 
ance with him never became intimate till the 
latter part of the year 1837, when I visited 
him in Brunswick under a heavy burden of 
domestic affliction. He quickly proved to me 
not only that he was "given to hospitality," 
but was also "a son of consolation ;" and I 
have never ceased to hold in cherished remem- 
brance the graceful amenities, the cordial 
sympathy, the Christian good will, that did so 
much to lift away the burden from my spirit. 
From that time I always reckoned him among 
my friends ; and though our meetings have 
never been frequent, they have always been 
to me most agreeable. Once or twice we have 
had the privilege of listening to his words of 
wisdom and weight from my pulpit. No man 
have I found more willing, and I may add 
more competent, than he, to answer my inqui- 
ries on any subject, whenever they have been 
communicated. Indeed, I have not a recol- 



25 

lection of him that I do not wish to carry 
with me to the end of life's journey. 

The bereaved children have gathered here 
in the house of God to-day as a company of 
mourners; but I am sure there are voices 
from above and from within, charging them 
to mourn moderately, nay even to rejoice in 
their tribulation. For their revered and 
beloved father, under the ordering of God's 
Gracious Providence, was satisfied with long 
life — not only was his sojourn here protracted 
to nearly thrice the ordinary period, but it 
was an uninterrupted scene of moral and 
spiritual progress ; and amidst even the infirm- 
ities of age his mind and heart were constant- 
ly expanding, and his*hands open and nerved 
for doing good. And God showed him his 
salvation — God opened his mind to the accep- 
tance of his truth ; He opened his heart to 
its quickening and sanctifying power; He 
imparted to him the needed help at every 
stage of his journey ; He put forth his arm 
for him to lean upon in the vale of age and 
the yet darker vale of death ; and now we 
doubt not that, from the riches of His grace 
and the glory of His throne, He is minister- 
4 



26 

ing to the full satisfaction of every desire, to 
the perfect exercise of every faculty. Long 
after the almond tree had blossomed, you saw 
him abounding in the fruits of holiness ; and 
when you were assembled, a loving group, to 
see him die, you felt that you were in the 
presence of angels who were waiting to bear 
him away to his heavenly home. And now 
that the scene is over, and the claim of the 
grave has been met, you are privileged to look 
at the monuments of his usefulness on earth, 
and to think of his glorious reward in Heaven. 
Surely, then, this hour of mourning may well 
be with you an hour of thanksgiving. As 
long as you live may you all be enabled to 
walk firmly in your father's footsteps, and 
may your grateful and reverential rememb- 
rances of him be a channel through which 
grace, mercy and peace -shall be multiplied to 
you abundantly. 

I am sure that this ancient and venerable 
Church, as well as the surrounding community, 
cannot but be sensible of a heavy loss, in the 
departure of this aged saint and minister of 
Christ ; for, though his latter years only have 
been spent here, and that not in the stated 



27 

exercise of his vocation, you surely must have 
appreciated the privilege of having such an 
honoured witness for the truth within your 
borders. I can never forget, when I come 
hither, that I am treading on ground conse- 
crated by the presence of some of the brightest 
luminaries of the Church through successive 
generations; and though they have ascended, 
we cannot doubt that they have left their 
mantles behind them, and that the influence 
of these now glorified worthies is still at work 
among you. And now that a new name has 
been added to the list, and you have another 
revered memory to embalm, may God grant 
that all of you, especially those who have 
already seen many |years, may open your 
hearts to the combined influences of the glo- 
rious past, and thus may receive a fresh pledge 
of a waiting crown. 

I cannot withhold a thought, however per- 
sonal to myself it may seem, which has been 
forced upon me in the prospect of being 
engaged in this service — it is that a few weeks 
more will complete half a century since I first 
stood in this house to proclaim God's message; 
being then a student of Theology, and having 



28 

just received license to preach. A year 
later I came to live in your neighbourhood, 
where I exercised my pastorate for ten years ; 
and during that time I was often amongst 
you, and occasionally in this pulpit — but 
where are they whom I used to meet here 
and recognize as my friends ? With few 
exceptions, gone to mingle in the scenes 
beyond the vail. Where are the ministers of 
the Gospel, from whose lips I used to hear 
words of counsel and encouragement, and 
with whom I was permitted to join in goodly 
co-operation for the advancement of the com- 
mon cause? Only one of them, as far as I 
know, remaining on earth, and he not in the 
exercise of his ministerial functions. Is there 
not solemn warning in this both to you and 
to me ? Shall not this constant passing away 
of our friends serve to keep us waiting 
and watching for the summons to depart ? 
Especially shall not the utterances of our 
revered and beloved father, from the grave 
and from the Third Heavens, come to our 
hearts as a fresh baptism of blessing, so that 
it shall be good for us, not only that he has 
lived, but that he has died ? 



APPENDIX. 

Dr. Allen, for some years after he took up bis 
residence in Northampton, was able and ready to 
meet the wishes of his brethren in the neighbour- 
hood, in supplying their pulpits. But his health 
at length became so much impaired that he was 
obliged to decline all such service, though he retained 
the ability, almost to the last, to prosecute his diver- 
sified inquiries in his own study. The last time he 
was in the house of God was on a Communion 
Sabbath, about six weeks before his death. Though 
the illness of which he died was brief, his death- 
scene was cheered by the presence of all his children. 
He died on Thursday, July 16, and his Funeral took 
place on the Monday following, in the house which 
has long been known as his home. 

The Funeral services were divided between the 
Rev. Mr. Leavitt, Pastor of. the First Church, with 
which Dr. Allen was more immediately connected, 
and the Eev. Dr. Hall, of the Edwards Church. 
Mr. Leavitt's remarks, which were chiefly biograph- 
ical, were of great interest, but his absence from 
home has prevented his writing them out for publi- 
cation. Dr. Hall has kindly furnished his Address, 
which is as follows : 

Invited by the bereaved family to take a part in these 
services, I deem it a privilege to lay my tribute of respect 
and affection upon the bier of Dr. Allen. My heart tells 
me that I am not here in an official capacity so much as in 



30 



that of a friend and mourner. The venerable man deceased 
was as a father to me. From the acquaintance he had with 
my father, he always manifested towards me a paternal 
interest. During my ministry in this place he has afforded 
me many a token of kind regard ; occupying my pulpit for 
me, writing to me notes of helpful sympathy and encourage- 
ment, and in every interview showing the cordiality and 
gentleness of a father. 

We are greatly interested, of course, in the facts of Dr. 
Allen's history, relative to his bifth, parentage, early 
education, graduation from college, the distinguished posi- 
tions which he filled and the eminence to which he attained. 
We love to think of our friends as rising to conspicuous 
stations, and making to themselves an honourable name. But 
in the sober hour like this, matters of higher moment press 
themselves upon us. What were the relations of the 
deceased to God whom he has gone to meet — to the Saviour 
into whose presence his spirit has been ushered ? No life is 
great but in its bearings upon the life to come ; and, although 
Dr. Allen was of high repute in the world of scholarship 
and letters, widely known as an educator and an author, it 
it is not herein that we find our chief comfort, or the glory 
of his life, but in the fact that he held the faith of the 
Gospel, and was a follower of Christ. 

This, I am sure, is the view which he himself would take. 
He would glory only in the Cross of Christ. He exalted 
the truth as it is in Jesus — the wondrous system of redemp- 
tion. In conversation with a member of his family, where 
much had been said about the importance of holding to 
Christ as our teacher, and following Him as our example 
and growing up into Him in all things as our model and our 
head, Dr. Allen was unwilling to leave the subject there. 
Assenting to what had been said, he added, " It is the blood 
of Christ, the atonement that lies at the foundation and is 
the substance of the Gospel." He held substantially to the 
doctrines of orthodoxy as commonly received, and not 






simply as a creed, but as the life of his own soul. Among 
the last words which passed his lips was this emphatic and 
decisive utterance, "If I die to day, I die saved by the 
blood of Jesus." 

The life of Dr. Allen seems to me singularly favoured. 
I scarcely know how it could have been more symmetrical 
and complete. He filled high positions, and filled them well. 
He was spared to counsel and guide his children, and to see 
them settled honourably and usefully in life. Then, in later 
years, he withdrew from public service, enjoying an old age 
sweetly ministered to in loving devotion, venerated by the 
community among whom he made his home, deeply interested 
in every good cause, intent upon the political and religious 
welfare of his race, and especially occupied with the great 
themes of God's glory and grace. His life was rounded out 
by a beautiful old age. As I think of him employing his 
closing years in hymning the praises of his God and Saviour, 
it seems a fitting and sublime conclusion to his Christian 
life. In that upper chamber, day after day, he used to 
meditate upon the ^glorious realities of his faith, then pour 
forth" his adoration in sacred verse, framing hymn or sonnet, 
and saying, like the Psalmist of Israel, " Thy statutes are 
my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." 

The " Ancient " man and the "Honourable and the Coun- 
sellor" has entered the joy of his Lord. Some of Christ's 
servants walk as princes upon the earth. Whatever there 
was princely and noble in the departed — his wealth of learn- 
ing and attainments — his gifts of talent, and nobility of 
soul, he has laid at Christ's feet, exclaiming, " By the Grace 
of God, I am what I am." 

And could his voice now reach us from the high places of 
glory, he would say, "It is good to be here." So said 
Peter upon the Mount of Transfiguration. But our friend 
and father has gone to a more exalted mount — to Mount 
Zion, and the Heavenly Jerusalem, with songs and with 
everlasting joy upon his head. There he sees his Lord, 



32 



not in the transient brightness of the Transfiguration scene, 
but in the abiding glory which he had with the Father before 
the world was. It is good to be there. We would not 
have him again subject to earth's trials and infirmities. To 
be present with the Lord is far better. We would not call 
him back. But we will hope to join him, included with him 
in Christ's Body — that Body which the great Head of the 
Church is completing as he gathers his family unto Himself. 

The following is a list of Dr. Allen's publications: 
Adventure in Vermont, or the Story of Mr. 

Anderson : A Eeligious Tract 1808 

American Biographical and Historical Dictiou- 

aiy, three editions 1809 

Account of the Separation in the Church of 

Pittsfield _ 1809 

Election Sermon, Massachusetts 1813 

A Sermon on the Death of Fanny L. Fleury, 

wife of Thomas Melville, Jr 1814 

A Sermon before two Charitable Societies in 

Williamstown .„ _ 1815 

A Farewell Sermon at Pittsfield _ _ 1817 

Election Sermon, New Hampshire : 1818 

A Sermon at the Ordination of the Rev. Asa 

Cummings, North Yarmouth 1821 

A Sermon before the Maine Missionary Society, 1822 
A Sermon at the Funeral of the Rev. Samuel 

Eaton, Harpswell 1822 

A Sermon at the Ordination of the Eev. Jacob 

C. Goss,Topsham 1824 

Value of the Bible: a Discourse before the 

Bible Society of Maine _. 182G 

Junius Unmasked 1828 



A Lecture in the Chapel of Bowdoin College 

on the Doctrine of Universal Salvation.. 1828 

An Address on the Death of Nathan Smith, 

M.D.,_ _ 1829 

Ordination by Elders Vindicated: Duclleian 

Lecture at Harvard University 1830 

Inaugural Address delivered in 1820, and Ten 
Annual Addresses to the Senior Classes 
at Bowdoin College, and the Dudleian 
Lecture annexed 1830 

A Sermon at the Installation of the Rev. Seneca 

White, Wiscasset - _ _ . . 1832 

Freedom only by the Gospel : A Sermon at 
New York, before the Board of Commis- 
sioners for Foreign Missions ._ 1832 

Congress of Nations : an Address before the 
Phi Beta Kappa Society of Bowdoin 
College, (published in the Quarterly 
Observer.) _ . . t 1833 

Defensive War Vindicated in Controversy with 

Mr. Grimke, (published in the Calumet,) 1834 
Psalms and Hymns 1835 

Designation of Time in Daniel and John, with 
Remarks on Professor Stuart, (Published 
in the American Biblical Repository.) 1840 

Christ Crucified : A Sermon at the Installation 
of his Son, Rev. John W^heelock Allen, at 
Wayland, Mass . 1841 

A Poem at t-ie Berkshire Jubilee, held at 

Pittsflekl _ 1844 

Report on Popery, accepted by the General 

Association of Massachusetts 1844 

5 



34 



Memoirs of the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, D. D., 
(Published in the New Hampshire Repos- 
itory, vol.!) _ 1845 

Historical Discourse at Dorchester, on the 

Fortieth Anniversary of the Second Church 1848 
Ode for the Peace Congress in Paris, (Published 

in Littell's Living Age.) _ .. „ 1849 

Memoir of the Rev. John Codman, D. D 1853 

An Address at the Close of the Second Century 

since the Settlement of Northampton 1854 

Wunnissoo : a Tale of Hoosatunnuk 1856 

Christian Sonnets . _ _ 1860 

Poems of Nazareth and the Cross 1866 

Sacred Songs. 1867 

In addition to the above he contributed largely to 
the Panoplist from 1805 to 1814. 

Dr. Allen was married, in 1813, to Maria Malle- 
ville Wheelock, daughter of the Hon. John 
Wheelock, second President of Dartmouth College. 
She died in 1828, the mother of eight children, of 
whom seven still survive,— two sons and five daugh- 
ters. The eldest daughter, bearing her mother's 
name, died in 1833, at the age of seventeen. The 
eldest son, John Wheelock, was graduated at Bow- 
doin College in 1834, received his theological edu- 
cation at the Audover Seminary, was settled as Pastor 
of the Congregational Church in Wayland in 1841, 
and is now in the exercise of his ministry in Wiscon- 
sin. The other son, William, was graduated at 
Amherst College in 1842, and is now settled as a 
Lawyer in Northampton. Of the daughters, one is 
married to the Rev. Dr. Henry B. Smith. Professor 



35 



in the Union Theological Seminary, New York ; 
another to the Rev. Eeastus Hopkins, formerly min- 
ister of the Second Presbyterian Congregation in 
Troy ; and a third to Mr. Chaeles Hammond, a 
licensed Preacher and Principal of the Academy in 
Monson, Mass. ; while the two unmarried daughters 
have lived with their father during the period of his 
decline, acting towards him the part of ministering 
angels. Dr. Allen was married a second time, in 
1831, to Sarah Johnson Breed, daughter of John 
Breed Esq., of Norwich, Conn. She died in 1848. 



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